Unedited Transcript:

This morning I just have a few short points from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. These are ongoing topics.

The words that he uses for samadhi are samprajnata and asamprajnata. But if I use those, no one will know what I'm saying. So, I've used the ones we're familiar with: nirvikalpa samadhi and savikalpa samadhi; easier to follow verbally.

"Samadhi that is accompanied by analytical thinking, reflection, bliss and awareness aware of itself is called 'savikalpa.'" So the word there that I translated is awareness aware of itself is 'asmita."

So, I'll read about asmita. Asmita in its normal sense means I-ness or am-ness. A-M, am-ness. Or the awareness of oneself as a discrete being; one of the basic phenomena present in savikalpa samadhi.

And then the dictionaries go on to define it as, as in and of itself, a form of samadhi, asmita. "It is the superconscious state immediately below nirvikalpa samadhi with the only or soul feeling of "I am," or "I exist."

Another definition says: "An advanced form of savikalpa samadhi based on the mere feeling of being present as an entity. The most rarefied form of the ego identity."

Sure sounds like kaif to me. So that's why I translated it as awareness; so that, it's this one here is the one that's really close: "It is the superconscious state immediately below nirvikalpa samadhi with the only or sole feeling of 'I am' or 'I exist.'"

So what's that's saying and in another point it says it's, it's gradational or, so that the four: analytical thinking, reflection, bliss and awareness aware of itself are progressively more refined stages of savikalpa samadhi. Or, the most refined state of savikalpa samadhi is awareness aware of itself.

And the next verse is interesting: "The other, nirvikalpa samadhi, follows the former by the practice of the idea of cessation of these and has only samskaras as remainder."

So if awareness aware of itself ceases... (this sounds like imkaif, right?) So this is saying that by making awareness cease we achieve nirvikalpa samadhi. So I thought you'd find that interesting. Make more sense if you were reading it but not quite at the stage yet where I can hand it out.